Riptide warning

RNLI highlight riptide danger

As the summer months lure more and more people out of the towns and down to Britain’s beaches, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has found itself overwhelmed with swimmers who find themselves out of their depth when they become caught in strong currents and dragged away from the shoreline.

Last week RNLI lifeguards in Wales rescued five water users in the space of an hour, as riptides in Langland Bay swept them away from the beach and into difficulties. An 11-year-old girl found herself unable to control her bodyboard once she was away from the shore, while a man in his fifties had to signal for help after he found himself powerless against the currents. Minutes later, an elderly man drifted out of his depth, before lifeguards had to rescue a young Australian couple.

Rob Steele, a Senior Lifeguard at Langland Bay, said: "A big swell caused this current, meaning all of these swimmers got into great difficulty. One man could not swim at all and had been swept out of his depth. A lifeguard kept him afloat using a rescue tube while another lifeguard took the woman safely to shore on a rescue board, before returning to help the man."

Riptides are strong flows of current that typically run along the surf line, flowing away from the shore at a speed of up to eight feet per second and posing a danger to swimmers who can find themselves unexpectedly dragged out into deep waters. 

The charity is campaigning to raise public awareness of the dangers threatened by the currents. Riptides pose one of the greatest dangers to water users off the coast of Britain, and were directly responsible for 42% of environmentally-related accidents in 2008. Despite the prevalence of these incidents, two thirds of people questioned in an RNLI survey last year did not know what a riptide was.

If you get caught in a strong current, Tom Burgess, RNLI Lifeguard Supervisor, says you should remain calm, try not to panic and raise your arm in the air to signal for help. “Many people get into serious difficulty in these currents because they panic and try to swim against the current.

“If you feel you can swim, you should swim parallel to the beach until free of the current, and then head for shore. If you’re on the beach and you see someone in trouble, tell a lifeguard or dial 999/112 and ask for the Coastguard.”

In May a Cornwall wedding almost ended in tragedy after two newlyweds were caught in riptides in Porthtowan after the groom decided to go in for a surf during the wedding reception.